This year, Baylor might end up doing the same thing to MSU. The MSU ticket office had sold about 6,000 of its allotment of 13,000 tickets for the Jan. 1 Cotton Bowl as of the close of business Thursday, a day after opening things to the public.

"We're struggling somewhat on ticket sales," MSU athletic director Mark Hollis told the Free Press about the most significant bowl matchup outside of the four-team playoff: the No. 4 Bears (11-1) against the No. 7 Spartans (10-2) at 12:30 p.m. New Year's Day (ESPN) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Schools sometimes put measures in place to discourage opposing fans from raiding their tickets -- requiring fans to purchase other tickets, for example. But MSU will not do that.

"If you're anticipating your fans want the tickets, you'll put more restrictions on it," Hollis said. "I don't anticipate we will decline people from Plano, Texas, or Carrollton, Texas, or whatever. Because, in the long run, it's good for the Big Ten to have those tickets sold."

Unsold Big Ten bowl tickets are pooled, and the cost is split among league schools -- taken away from the money earned from bowl payouts, which also is split among all league schools. Ten of the Big Ten's 14 football teams will be in bowl games this season, though it looked like one would have to sit home until MSU's surprising last-second switch from the Orange Bowl to the Cotton Bowl.

That was only possible because Mississippi State jumped from No. 10 in the Dec. 2 College Football Playoff rankings to No. 7 five days later, in the final rankings. This locked Mississippi State into the Orange Bowl ahead of Michigan State as the highest-ranked Big Ten or SEC non-champion, even though neither team played last weekend.

This stunned MSU and its fans. Though coach Mark Dantonio and his team have a better opportunity in the Cotton Bowl to make a statement on the field than would have been possible against Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl, many already had made Florida arrangements. MSU's administration had been making plans with Orange Bowl representatives all day Sunday, before the rankings switcheroo.

"You talk about a perfect storm," Hollis said of various factors limiting ticket demand. "The playoffs start, the Rose Bowl was last year, we were in a position we thought, by the formula, to play in Miami. And that's not to say the Orange Bowl is a better bowl than the Cotton Bowl, but when you're in that situation, you develop a mind-set of 'I'm going to Miami,' and then it's 'I'm not going to Miami.' If you think you're getting an iPad but you get an Xbox instead, it's still a great gift but it's a different gift, and your expectations have been disappointed."

Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long, chairman of the CFP selection committee, told the Lansing State Journal that the final rankings were done with a "clean sheet of paper," making it reasonable for Mississippi State to jump Michigan State in the final analysis. That jump also allowed all 10 Big Ten teams to get into bowl games.

Had the Spartans been in the Orange Bowl, the Big Ten would have been locked out of a spot in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, per new postseason arrangements, and one of its lower-tier bowl teams would have had to sit home altogether. The Orange going to the Bulldogs means all 10 eligible Big Ten teams can go bowling, though the financial impact is negligible.

The Orange pays out $10,981,109 per team this year, while the Cotton pays $6 million -- the same as the Fiesta and Peach, two other "New Year's 6" bowls in the new structure. The Rose and Sugar, both hosting Jan. 1 semifinals, pay out $8 million per team.

The Big Ten gains a $4.1 million payout from the Citrus Bowl, but it also has to pay out $2 million to cover expenses for a 10th team.

For MSU, it means a road-game atmosphere Jan. 1 -- and some disappointed people. Paul Schager, MSU associate athletic director for external operations, said an outside company had sold 700 seats to MSU fans for an Orange Bowl tour before the bowl announcements. It sold 30 for the Cotton Bowl.

"If you could take the fans down there and walk them into that stadium, there'd be a lot more people who would want to go," Schager said of the state-of-the-art home of the Dallas Cowboys known as "Jerryworld," which he visited along with MSU deputy athletic director Greg Ianni this week.

"I think, if people go, they're really gonna enjoy it," Ianni said. "I was really impressed. I couldn't get over how jacked they are to have a Big Ten team there. They've had SEC and Big 12 and they said to get a Big Ten team there … I think we really underestimate the strength of our brand. People talk about, 'Well, our programs aren't doing well, our football isn't good enough,' this and that. But the strength of our brand and what we bring to the table, people want to be a part of that."

Just as every MSU fan wanted to be a part of the Spartans' first trip to the Rose Bowl in 26 years. The lengths to which people extended themselves financially for that might be coming back around this year.

But Wendy Brown, MSU's associate athletic director for ticket operations, said she's hopeful that MSU fans will buy steadily over the next week or so. Tickets are $240 for lower club seats and $150 for reserved seating, along with $50 apiece for MSU students. If not, those tickets will be there for Baylor fans.

"I hate using the word 'disappointed,'" Hollis said. "(Sales) are obviously not at the level they would have been had we been in the playoff or in Miami. The loss to Ohio State, I think, took a lot of air out. A lot of support and money went into the Rose Bowl, from a fan standpoint.

"But we're in one of the top six bowl games, playing the No. 5 team with a chance to finish third in the country when the season's over. And I think that's probably gonna be part of the fallout of the playoff. We're going to the Cotton Bowl and who knows the next time we'll play in one of those games? That's kind of the mind-set you have to have."

Series history: These teams have met once, a 28-10 win for Michigan State at Spartan Stadium in 1968. Baylor's a little better this time around, however; the Bears shared the Big 12 title with TCU, whom they beat 61-58 on Oct. 11.
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Until midafternoon Sunday, the MSU staff thought it was going to face Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl, a triple-option offense and one of the top rushing attacks in the country. Instead, it’s QB Bryce Petty and Baylor’s high-powered spread — one of the best passing attacks. Baylor leads the nation in scoring offense (48.8 points per game) and total offense (581.3 yards per game). MSU is seventh in scoring (43.1) and 13th in yardage (496.5), by the way, making this bowl-rep heaven.
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The Bears are fifth in passing offense at 346.2 yards per game, and quarterback Bryce Petty is eighth with 300.5 yards per game. He has 26 touchdown passes and six picks in Art Briles’ high-tempo offense. Sophomore Corey Coleman (pictured) has 57 catches for 969 yards and 10 touchdowns and is eighth nationally with 107.7 yards per game. This offense scores fast and often.
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The Bears aren’t quite so imposing on this side of the ball, but they have some talented players. Senior linebacker Bryce Hager has 101 tackles, 11 for losses. Baylor is ninth nationally in rush defense, giving up 107.7 yards per game — just behind MSU (97.5), and has speed in the secondary. That’s a must, of course, in the wide-open Big 12.
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Junior defensive end Shawn Oakman has 10 of the Bears’ 36 sacks. The Bears have been up and down overall. They gave up 99 combined points in a two-week span in October, in a 61-58 win over TCU and a 41-27 loss at West Virginia. But the defense made a statement in a 48-14 romp at Oklahoma on Nov. 8 and got the job done Saturday in a 38-27 win over Kansas State.
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Baylor coach Art Briles is in his seventh year with the program after coaching Houston from 2003-07. He has a career record of 89-61 as a head coach, including 55-33 at Baylor (33-27 in Big 12 play). He also led Baylor to 11 wins last season and finished the year ranked No. 13 overall.
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